A Christmas Fic, set to finish sometime around Christmas. LJ with a small dose of LoveHate. Grinch-y-ness for good measure! James admits his hatred for Christmas and Lily's decided to MAKE him like Christmas. COMPLETE

A/N Funny thing here--I have A
bell in my hair! I got it in a gift bag from people in my church...

Petunia was rather *too * nice
last chapter...Vernon was a bad influence on her, we'll say. Hee hee--funny,
Vernon is my Grandpa's name...Petunia won't be so nice this chapter! :-)

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Mr. Grinch

James Vs. Christmas. Will
James Potter Finally Get In the Christmas Spirit?

By

Sierra Sitruc

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
O! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

Epilogue

Christmas Day

After having, what must
have been the worst birthday in history, James Potter had disappeared.

Remus Lupin and Sirius
Black, said James Potter's best friends, had opened presents with him--and then
he'd gone off mumbling something about 'Good Plan and Lily". When they'd
informed the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, about his disappearance, he'd
chuckled, given them candy canes and told them not to worry--before sending them
on their way.

Remus and Sirius stared at
the Marauder's Map for about an hour, before giving up and drinking up their
storage of Butter Beer. If James wanted to act like an idiot and get himself
killed on Christmas for good, so be it--they weren't going to save him.

Mile and miles away, in the
Evans home--things were chaotic, Donald Saberhagen, turned out to be the
clumsiest postman in history. Upon arriving, he'd been desperate to make a good
impression on Lily and had ended up... Spilling eggnog all over her within the
first five minutes.

Lily reassured him that it
was fine, but he hadn't listened, and had tried to help clean her up and had
thus made the situation worse by smashing his elbow into a pie.

Lily and Petunia had shared
a look that said clearly 'This man is a nutcase'.

Things calmed down around
lunch time, they ate roast beef, and Lily showed her mother the five golden
rings she'd received a few days prior as she explained the story of the
mysterious gift giver, while leaving out the few magical parts of the story for
Petunia and Donald's sakes.

"Five golden
rings...Whoever it is who sent you those, must be loaded!" Petunia said,
a hint of jealousy in her tone.

"I bet it's that James
fellow." Greta said with a smile.

"No--he wouldn't..." Lily
paused for a moment, thinking about it. If James had been the one sending her
those gifts... It made sense to some magnitude, but there was still doubt. James
had just happened to feel like going outside bright and early, that day she was
trapped on the lake--and he always had his wand when she needed to be rescued.
Plus! He knew all those spells with the birds..."He could have
though." Lily finished.

"Around five, he had to eat
lunch with his family--his sister wouldn't let him get away." Petunia
said with a tinge of nervousness in her voice.

"Oh, I can't wait to meet
the bloke--another man around the house will be nice." Donald said, looking
around at all four women that sat at the table. Greta, Petunia, Grandma Ruthy,
and Lily--They were all sitting in the same order they always sat at with
Christmas--with one minor difference. Greta sat to the right of the head of the
table, Petunia on the left and Lily beside her, and Grandma Ruthy beside
Greta--but this time, Donald took the head of the table, instead of their
father.

It made Lily
uncomfortable--Like Donald was taking the place of her father, and he was, in
the literal sense; but she decided it was good for them. It showed that they
were moving on past the grief of losing their wonderful father.

"Did you like your present,
Lily?" Donald asked Lily, breaking her from her thoughts. "I hadn't known what
to get you--because I'd never met you before, but your Mum helped me pick it
out."

"Yes, it was lovely. Thank
you Donald." Lily said, giving him her best smile. He relaxed drastically,
relieved that she had like the diamond necklace...Who WOULDN'T like a
diamond necklace, that's what Lily was wondering.

"I couldn't believe Aunt
Rachel gave us what she did though." Petunia whispered to her younger sister.

"I know...She's still
giving us those weird gifts." Lily said.

"Yes--but didn't it get a
little too weird?" Petunia asked, as Lily snorted with laughter,
recalling the look on Petunia's face as she opened her present.

"I think she was just
poking fun at us-- real coconut tops--complete with hula skirts. She must have
just been kidding us" Lily muttered to her sister.

"We should be in Hawaii; it
must be nice this time of year." Petunia said.

"Actually, I wouldn't
know." Came an excited voice from behind them--and Lily and Petunia whirled
around to see their Aunt Rachel standing there, in a Hawaiian shirt, and bright
orange shorts.

"Aunt Rachel!" The two
girls cried, jumping up to hug their Aunt. Aunt Rachel had fiery red hair, like
her brother and green eyes--she looked almost exactly like Lily in that aspect.
They looked more like mother and daughter then Greta and Lily did.

"What are you doing here?"
Lily asked, giving her own mother a look.

"Well, Greta wanted me to
come down and meet her fiancé--so here I am!" Rachel said, laughing and taking a
seat beside Lily.

"It's so good to see you!
What have you been up to Rachel?" Greta asked her best friend.

"Oh, the usual--I've taken
to--taking pictures, which brought me to Hawaii." Rachel said.

"Do you have any pictures
with you?" Lily asked.

"I'll show you later."
Rachel told her, and then added in a whisper, "When the muggle isn't around."
Lily nodded, Aunt Rachel was the only other person in her family with magical
blood--Lily's parents should have figured out Lily was going to be a witch, when
she grew up looking just like her Aunt, and acting like her Aunt in some ways
too...

They talked for awhile
about what Rachel had done in Hawaii, and then retired to the living room to
talk some more.

Around five O'clock, Vernon
Dursley showed up, and Petunia's mood changed severely. She became this snooty
person only concerned for Vernon's welfare.

"Oh Vernon! Are you
alright? It's so cold out! Do you want some hot chocolate?" Petunia cooed to her
boyfriend.

"No, no--I'm fine." He
said, as he took a seat on her couch near the fire place.

As Greta and Donald got to
know Vernon, Aunt Rachel talked to Petunia--leaving Lily to herself...She found
her thoughts wandering to James. She was curious to know how his Christmas was
going. He was probably having the time of his life with Sirius and Remus at
Hogwarts.

"Lily? Why don't you and
Petunia go try on those gifts I brought you?" Aunt Rachel asked with an impish
grin on her face.

"What?!" Petunia and Lily
screeched at the same time.

"In front of Vernon, Aunt
Rachel?" Petunia whimpered.

"Yes--There's nothing to be
ashamed about. You two are beautiful, there's nothing to be worried about." Aunt
Rachel said with an evil smile.

"Yeah there is...Like my
dignity." Lily muttered, as she and Petunia picked up the hula skirts and
coconut bras.

(A/N I
have a friend who got a coconut top as a gag from one of her friends who went to
Hawaii with her band class. It was hilarious!)

They went to their rooms to
change, and Lily set it down on her bed and locked the door, happy to have her
own room now more then ever.

Lily stared at what the
Hawaiians culture had brought into her house. She could no believe she was going
to put on the most revealing thing she'd ever worn besides a swim suit. Well,
whether Aunt Rachel likes it or not, I'm wearing shorts underneath this...and
I'm changing out of this before someone important sees me, Lily
thought, agitated.

"This is so degrading."
Lily whined, sounding a lot like Petunia in the process.

~*~

Moments later, Lily
appeared outside her door--she was trying to cover herself up as much as
possible, she saw Petunia doing the same thing across from her--and laughed
herself silly.

They looked like idiots.

"Let's get this over with
Lily, I want to just--be humiliated, and be done with it. Never speak of this
again--to anyone. I'm making you all take this to your graves!" Petunia hissed,
and Lily nodded in strong agreement. No one needed to know about this
awful excuse for humor.

Together, the two
embarrassed sisters went down the stairs to the living room, where the family
was waiting expectantly--for the show to start.

Lily could feel her cheeks
heating up in mortification already.

Once in the living room,
Petunia immediately sat by her boyfriend--who looked like he was infuriated by
what Aunt Rachel had made his girlfriend do. "I can't believe she made you do
that." Lily heard Vernon whisper to Petunia, all the while trying to look down
Petunia's coconuts.

"I think you two look
adorable." Aunt Rachel declared, as Lily hung her head in shame as she tried
to hide inside the cushions of the couch.

"Can I change now?" Lily
carped.

"No--I want a picture."
Aunt Rachel said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She reached
inside her purse, and Lily and Petunia exchanged looks of horror.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous
Greta!" Aunt Rachel said, as she pulled Lily up and began instructing her on
where to stand--and then Petunia as well. "Pose for the camera now--act like
your doing the hula! It's Christmas in Hawaii!"

Suddenly, all heads turned
to the fire place--which was making a roaring sound and turning green. "Floo?"
Lily whispered in shock...She'd used floo powder once to visit Olivia, but who
else would be using it? Olivia didn't know she was home. Dumbledore maybe?

There was a loud crash as a
red clothed figure stumbled into the room through the fire, with a small velvet
bag in hand. Lily took in the white beard and the Santa Claus outfit--but it
just didn't fit together.

"Santa?" Donald asked,
jumping back in shock--running into the Christmas tree at the same time,
knocking Donald out--for the good of the people.

"Oops." Came Santa's voice.
His eyes turned to Lily, and she saw the look of confusion as he took in Lily
and Petunia's outfits. "I hope this is the right house." He muttered.

"Sir, I don't know what
your doing here but--." Vernon started to say, but Santa interrupted.

"This is the Evans' home,
correct?" Santa Claus asked, and Lily couldn't help but think she knew that
voice--it was hard to tell though, because it was muffled by the beard.

"Yes it is--what do you
need?" Aunt Rachel asked suspiciously, though a glint of amusement was in her
eye.

"No--Santa Claus." Santa
said slowly, a joyful light in his deep brown eyes.

"James Potter, what are you
doing in my house?" Lily asked, her hands on her hips--forgetting that
she was wearing a grass skirt and coconut top.

Santa Claus sighed before
getting down on his knees in front of Lily and reaching into his bag. "I need to
give you some things." He said with a determined look. "On the first day of
Christmas--your true love gave to you...A partridge in a pear tree." Santa
whispered as he pulled out a statue of a tree with a partridge sitting in it. It
was an ornament.

"So it was Santa who
sent her the gifts." Greta whispered to herself. Vernon and Petunia stared at
Santa and Lily with looks of outrage, but neither had enough courage to do
anything about it. Aunt Rachel looked beside herself with delight.

"On the second day of
Christmas--your true love gave to you--two turtle doves." Santa pulled out two
turtle doves.

Lily sunk to her knees, and
faced Santa eye to eye. She looked through his glasses, and saw the sincerity in
his eyes.

"It was you who sent
me those gifts. James--you idiot!" Lily cried, hitting him on the
shoulder.

"Hey! What was that for?!"
James yelped, the mood ruined by now.

"You--you--Oh, I'm going to
have to forgive you." Lily muttered, as she pounced on him, throwing her arms
wildly around him while placing a sloppy kiss on his lips. "This beard is going
to have to go." Lily said, pulling off the elastic beard, "Beards never fool me
James." Lily mumbled, as she kissed him thoroughly this time.

Lily couldn't believe that
James had done something so sweet and endearing for her, all that money and time
he'd spent on her—she had to forgive the idiot. He may say some stupid things,
but he cared for her. It also meant he liked snogging her too…

"Lils, you didn't let me
finish." James protested into her mouth--both oblivious to Aunt Rachel rounding
everyone up out of the room. Greta seemed reluctant to leave her fifteen year
old daughter alone with that boy--but there was enough romance in her to
let it go--just this once.

"I thought I was only good
to have around when we're snogging." Lily said with a bit of bitterness in her
tone.

"No…Lily, I didn't mean any
of those things I said." James said, looking into her eyes.

"Finish then." Lily
ordered, sitting up on top of him.

"Well--there's a lot of
ornaments in there--but...Um..." James looked hesitant for a moment. James
struggled to remember what else he'd had planned, "Damn those coconuts are
distracting!" James sighed in frustration, and Lily turned about fifty colors as
she tried to cover herself up. "Oh! What the heck!" James gave up, and kissed
her again.

Lily liked the way James
kissed her; he kissed her--like he loved her. Maybe he did, she wasn't sure, but
she knew that as long as she had his kisses she'd always feel loved. They were
the kind of kisses that made her feel safe and at home. Like his kisses, were
the only thing she needed to live.

"I love you James." Lily
sighed into his mouth, it took her about two seconds to realize she'd just set
it out loud.

"You do?" James squeaked,
his arms tightened around her.

"Yes." Lily said, her voice
less confident then normal.

"Good, because I love you
too." James said, kissing her again.

They didn't need silly
words to assure one another that they were together; they could tell by one
another's kisses, that there was no one else for them.

"Santa though James?" Lily
asked him, smiling at her idiot.

"I knew, that if I came in
looking like an idiot in a big red suit, you wouldn't be able to kill me." James
said thoughtfully.

Lily giggled, and continued
what they'd been doing. James is too good a kisser to kill, Lily thought
amusedly to herself.

"I've got a question."
James breathed, as they came up for air.

"Hmm?"

"What in the devil are you
wearing, woman!?" James asked, he'd been quite flabbergasted when he'd
entered (just like Santa) through the fire place, to see her wearing such a
revealing outfit...Not that he'd minded.

"A present." Lily said,
grinning impishly.

"From WHO?!"

"My Aunt." Lily answered.

"You have one crazy Aunt."
James said, and pulled her to him once more.

A thought occurred to Lily,
and she abruptly
stopped kissing him, "James?"

"Huh?" James asked dazedly.

"What do you think about
Valentine's Day?" Lily asked him, James bit his lip before answering truthfully.

"It's a load of Hogwash.
Made up just to make poor guys like me spend tons of money on their girlfriends
and make idiots of them selves while they write horrible poetry."

"So...You hate Valentine's
Day too?" Lily confirmed.

"Yeah..." James said
weakly, wondering where this was leading.

"That's fantastic! Because
now I can make you like that holiday as well! And if it ends up like this
did..." Lily said suggestively.

"You know Lily, if that's
the case, I hate every holiday!" James declared good naturedly as he
kissed his unannounced girlfriend.

"Then I have my work cut
out for me, but since it's you--it'll be pleasurable." Lily said, giving
him a kiss back.

"I'm up for it then.
Tomorrow's Boxing Day you know."

Happy Christmas!

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A/N, I didn't really like the
ending...But, I couldn't think of what else to do! Oh well--they're together and
we know who sent the gifts!

I'm kind of glad it's
over...It was hard work. Now I'll work on the rest of my stories...

REVIEW! At the end of my
stories, I never get a lot of reviews...People always get lazy at the end of the
story, and that's when I want the most reviews! Let's go for 500! Please? AS my
Christmas/Birthday present?

*~Sierra~*

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.